Touchdown
by chaoticscribblings
Summary: "Ah, Evans, enjoyed the game?" "Yeah. My favorite part was when you were sacked." Or, James is quarterback of the football team, Lily is cheer captain, and they will never, ever be a couple. No matter what the rest of the student body thinks.
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I don't own the characters that you recognize_

* * *

Lily Evans liked to think she had school spirit. She bought Hogwarts High t-shirts, participated in the acceptable amount of clubs, and cared about the outcomes of sports games. Hell, she was a cheerleader. And she _enjoyed_ the Friday nights spent on the field long after dark, stadium lights harsh against the green turf, yelling until her voice was hoarse and her legs hurt from jumping up and down for a solid hour.

Cheering for James Potter, on the other hand, was absolutely miserable.

He had just thrown a touchdown pass. Of course he had - football quarterback extraordinaire, people were practically placing bets on where he'd go to college. D1, everyone whispered. He'd probably get an amazing scholarship.

He was good, she'd admit. Lily knew football, and anyone who knew football could see he was some kind of prodigy at the sport. He'd probably make it to the NFL, and then she'd be unlucky enough to marry some guy who was a die-hard fan of his team and she'd have to spend her Sunday nights watching him throw a ball around from a gigantic plasma screen television.

 _Joy._

She plastered a grin on her face as she spelled out his name with the rest of the cheerleading squad, shaking her pom-poms and jumping up and down. It wasn't even like the touchdown had been all his anyway - Roger Davies had caught the ball in the endzone, and they'd spelled out his name too, but still. He deserved all of the credit.

Lily wasn't biased in the least.

"I _knew_ you and Potter were in love," Marlene whispered beside her, cracking a grin as her eyes followed Lily's line of vision to the quarterback, back facing them, leading the huddle. "Can't keep your eyes off him, can you? I mean, he _does_ have a pretty great ass."

"Shut up," Lily retorted, hastily averting her vision to the scoreboard. 49-14. They were going to win. "I was trying to see if my hateful gaze could make him explode."

"I'm not convinced."

"You never are."

Marlene wasn't the only one - though, as Lily's best friend, she was certainly the most vocal about it. Half the school was under the impression that Lily and James held secret feelings for each other.

Lily had to admit, it was cliche in the cutest way. Cheer captain and football quarterback, say they hate each other but are secretly in love. If said quarterback was anyone other than Potter, she'd even convince herself to give it a go.

But she hated him - hated his stupid ego and the way he always seemed to enjoy annoying her.

No one was sure when the rivalry had started, but it had slowly evolved into something akin to hate. James seemed to take pride in his ability to ruffle her feathers at every moment imaginable, and Lily had more than enough fun hurling a slew of insults his way. Her greatest achievement was that she'd never recycled one.

"All I'm saying is that there's a very thin line between love and hate," Marlene shrugged.

"Not in this case. The line's, like, a freaking freshman's eyeliner."

"Okay, but if you don't like him, then why do you constantly flirt?"

"I do not flirt with James Potter!" Lily squeaked, louder than she had intended. Half the cheer squad turned their attention to their captain, looking various levels of amused.

"Yeah, you do," came a quiet voice from the side, and Lily craned her neck to see Mary McDonald holding her pom-poms up in surrender, apologetic look on her face.

"I do not," Lily huffed, crossing her arms and staring out at the field. See if she cheered for stupid Potter and his stupid touchdowns now.

Lily wasn't one to shirk duty, however, so the next touchdown pass James Potter threw, she was right there with the rest of the cheerleaders, clapping and whooping and doing cartwheels.

Life wasn't fair.

* * *

The game ended 66-27, Hogwarts. Cheers erupted from the crowd - almost the whole school had come to watch.

Hogwarts High School was going to the playoffs.

Lily groaned. She liked cheerleading - she really did. She was planning on doing it in college if she could, if only for the sense of being a part of something it gave her. But the last thing she wanted was a month more of waking up at 5:30 every morning to make her way to practice, having to sit in her itchy uncomfortable cheer uniform all day during school on game day, and the rides home on the bus with what seemed like a billion sweaty teenage boys.

Marlene bumped her shoulder, shooting Lily a grin. "Look who's coming over!"

Lily turned and her gaze fell onto James Potter, swaggering towards the group of high school girls gathered around the water coolers. He had taken his helmet off, untucked his jersey, and his hair looked even messier than normal, if it was even possible. He didn't have his glasses on - they were probably thrown in the locker room somewhere (the idiot was always losing them), and he had a wide smirk on his face.

Lily knew girls found James Potter attractive. She wasn't going to kid herself and deny it. With jet black hair, tanned skin, and sparkling, laughing hazel eyes, he was some kind of high school god (though that, she thought, was going a bit too far). He was tall - a good head taller than her - all wide shoulders and athlete's muscle and strong jawline. He'd probably be the hot dad all his kids' friends talked about.

But, while James Potter might have been attractive, Lily Evans was _not_ attracted to him.

She'd had her obligatory crush on him, of course. It had been seventh grade, and she'd had History with him, and they were something like friends. But, everyone had, at least once, and Lily tried not to hold it against herself. She was young and stupid. How was she supposed to know what a douche he would become?

"Ah, Evans, enjoyed the game?" His voice came, deep and filled with humor, the most antagonizing sound Lily had ever heard.

"Yeah. My favorite part was when you were sacked."

He raised an eyebrow, bringing a hand to his heart in mock hurt. "You're really mean, you know that?"

"I try."

She spun away, hoping her ponytail had managed to hit him in the face. Stalking towards the other end of the field, she found James following her.

"Is there a reason you're stalking me?"

"Relax, Evans. I need to ask you a question."

"Really?" Lily turned, eyebrows raised, arms across her chest, preparing herself for some idiotic remark.

"Really. I need to know what the English homework is."

"You're kidding, right?"

James smirked. "I never kid about grades, Evans."

"You do realize that there are, like, three guys on your precious football team in our English class you could ask."

"Well, yeah, but then I wouldn't get the chance to annoy you."

Lily almost screamed. "You're insufferable. An insufferable fuck-tractor."

James had the audacity to laugh. "A fuck-tractor?"

"I've already called you a fuck. It's called being creative. Try it some time."

"This is fun, Evans. We should do it more often."

"We do it every day."

"I know. You love it." And with a wink, James turned and made his way back across the field.

Lily hated him.

* * *

"You should've seen her face, man. It was great."

"One day she's going to murder you, and I'm going to dig you up from your grave and bring you back to life just to say 'I told you so',", Sirius remarked, unlocking his phone and scrolling through Twitter.

"It'll be worth it. It's so fun to see her mad."

"Okay."

James turned to his best friend, raising an eyebrow. "Okay?"

"Okay."

"Is there something you're trying to say?"

Sirius shrugged, propping his feet up on the seat back in front of him. "You're so in love with her, dude."

"Hah. Funny. Haven't heard that one before."

"No, like, really. I mean, I think the whole 'guys are dicks to girls they like' thing is dumb, but I don't think that's what's happening here. I think it started off as legitimate hate, and now you're so used to her presence in your life and you actually enjoy the fact that she pays attention to you."

"For a guy with a complete shit love life, you do know how to analyze mine," James said dryly, crossing his arms. "Anyway, I'd be fine with Lily Evans not in my life. It just makes things more interesting."

"I'd bet you wouldn't know what to do with yourself."

"Why do I even talk to you?"

"You have no other friends?"

"That's funny, Sirius. Good one. Your comeback game is strong."

Sirius just cracked a grin, favoriting a tweet. "Seriously, though, I'm right. I'm always right."

James didn't dignify his friend with a response, instead turning to gaze out the window at the cars rushing by the big, yellow bus. Lily Evans was probably sitting up near the front of her bus, giggling about something stupid with her friends, tossing her long, red hair behind her back.

She _was_ attractive. James had noticed it many times - obviously athletic looking, a wide smile, startling green eyes. Not that it mattered, though. He wasn't attracted to her.

And, besides, she hated him. Even if he didn't hate her (he did), Sirius was completely wrong. Despite what an overwhelming majority of the school seemed to think, he and Lily Evans were never going to be an item.

* * *

 _Don't speak too soon James... :-)_

 _Anyway, I've been meaning to write this AU for a long time and I'm finally getting around to it so... Yay! It's not gonna be too long - less than 10 chapters definitely (unless something drastic changes) but I hope you liked the first chapter and that you'll stick around for more._

 _Please review! It would make my day._

 _\- Sunny :-)_


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: Not JK Rowling_

* * *

Playoffs season was quickly becoming James' favorite time of the year. Hogwarts had never made it past the point they were at now, and everyone was all too aware of the fact. There seemed to be a change in the atmosphere. Something was different this year - perhaps the head coach was tired of losing in the second round every year, maybe the students were on their last stretch of hope; whatever it was, James Potter was determined to win the state title.

It was his last year. And, as much as he wanted to move on to bigger and better things, he'd given four years of his life to Hogwarts High School. It _had_ to count.

And so there he was, 6:00 in the morning, adjusting his mouthguard and staring out across the dim field. There were still stars in the sky, the reds and yellows of a sunrise barely peeking their way out from the horizon, and there was nothing he'd rather be doing than practicing.

They'd won their first game by a margin of 52 against Salem High School, but that was how it always was. The first round was always played against the school district a town over, and they were never very good. It was the second round - the game tomorrow, that James was worried about.

They were playing Beauxbatons High, a school about two hours away from Hogwarts. The Beauxbatons players weren't very big or tough, but they more than made up for it by their speed and nimbleness. Their runs were impossible to keep track of, and though James was pretty sure he knew most of them by now, there were always the new plays.

"I bet we're gonna beat them this year," said Remus, leaning down to retie his cleats. They had just finished a drill - an obstacle course consisting of punching bags and hurdles - and were waiting near the sidelines for Coach's next assignment.

"Yeah, in our dreams," muttered Sirius.

"I think Remus is right," James countered, rocking back on his feet. "I've just got a feeling."

"Feelings don't win football games. Skill does. And Beauxbatons is _good_ ," Sirius explained. "Like, not to be a kill joy or anything. But it's true."

"But we're better than we've ever been," Remus pointed out.

"But Beauxbatons has that new transfer from New York. Delacour, or whatever. I've heard he's really good."

"We're gonna win," was all James said. He wasn't going to quit until they did. And it _was_ possible, no matter how good Beauxbatons was supposed to be this year. Hogwarts had the advantage of surprise - people probably expected them to be the average they were last year.

"Potter! Black! Lupin! Quit your yammering and get your asses over here!" The gruff voice interrupted James' reverie, and he snapped his neck around to see Coach Huff looking at the three teenage boys with an expression of impatience.

As he jogged towards the coach, James saw the cheerleading team making their way out of the gym building and towards the feelings, looking dead on their feet. Lily Evans was at the front of the pack, looking as if she'd like nothing better than a large cup of coffee and four more hours of sleep. She caught her looking at him and her tired expression turned into a scowl. Turning her head, she said something to the tall blonde to her right - Marlene - who just grinned.

James smirked. She was riled up, and he hadn't even said a word.

* * *

This was ridiculous. 6:00 in the morning, and instead of laying in her bed, Lily was standing on the cold track, wrapping her stupid, thin jacket around her and trying her best not to look like she was freezing her ass off.

She didn't understand why Thompson wouldn't just let them wear their varsity jackets to practice. When she'd asked, back in her freshman year, before she'd realized that questioning the cheer coach was practically suicide, the lady had rambled on and on about how cheerleaders had to be _tough_ and _endure_ and a bunch of other crap that Lily hadn't really listened to.

The skimpiness of the cheer outfits, however, was not as inconvenient for the dozens of teenaged boys spread across the field, and they seemed to take every free moment to observe the girls stretching.

Lily shot each of them a nasty look, sending a particularly killer one to James. He just winked, turning away.

Idiot.

She was looking forward to the forty five minutes between the end of practice and the beginning of school. A Starbucks had recently opened a few minutes away from the school, and there was nothing that Lily wanted more at the moment than a hot cup of coffee. Preferably with chocolate.

She was so engrossed in thoughts of warm, sweet bliss that she didn't notice the football until it had collided with her face, sending her sprawling to the ground, knee scraping against the pavement.

"Oh my god! Lily, are you okay?"

Lily looked up to see a circle of faces above her, gazing down worriedly.. Marlene stuck out a hand to help her up.

"You're bleeding!"

So she was. Her knee was skinned, blood running down her leg.

"You." Thompson pointed at Marlene. "Take her to the trainer."

And then Lily was hobbling across the track, arm around Marlene's shoulder, cursing the stupid God that seemed to enjoy making her days absolute and complete shit.

"Who the hell decides to throw a football in the direction of the cheerleaders anyway?!" Lily vented. "Like, how _stupid_ do you have to be?"

"James Potter stupid," Marlene replied, looking expectantly at Lily for her reaction.

It did not disappoint. Lily's cheeks turned the flaming red of her hair, and she rounded on Marlene, pushing a finger to her chest.

"Do you mean to tell me that _James Potter_ threw a fucking _football_ at me?"

"It looked like it was an accident."

"It always does! What a douche bag. Like, duh we hate each other, but what the fuck _._ What the _fuck?_ I'm going to fucking kill him."

"It seriously _did_ look like an accident," repeated Marlene, helping Lily up a set of stairs.

"You're just saying that because you're head of the James and Lily fan club," Lily seethed. What the hell was James Potter's problem? Verbal hits were a daily part of their day, as normal as the fact that the sky was blue or the grass was green. But actual, physical injuries? That was going way too far - farther, she had to admit, then she'd ever expected of him. He was annoying and a jerk and everything wrong with the world, but she'd at least thought he'd possessed human decency.

"Maybe a little. But I promise, it looked like an accident."

"Shut up and take me to the training room."

* * *

James Potter felt awful. His stomach churned, and he could barely concentrate on the target he was supposed to be hitting. The football soared over, fell short, almost hit the assistant coach in the face before the man stalked up to him, glaring.

"Go tell the damn girl you're sorry so we don't lose this game."

James nodded, pulling off his helmet as he ran off the field.

He hadn't meant to hit her. Hadn't even meant to send the football in her direction. Sirius had jostled his arm, and the football had flown across the field.

It surprised him that he hadn't felt even the slightest urge to laugh. And it scared him more than he was willing to admit that he'd actually wanted to sprint over to her and ask her if she was okay. Pull her up and beg for forgiveness.

What the hell was wrong with him?

 _It's only because you physically hurt her_ , James told himself, pulling open the doors to the school building. _Anyone would feel bad_.

Deep down, he knew this wasn't completely true. But he pushed the other words bubbling inside of him into the recesses of his mind and stalked into the training room, making his way straight to her.

She was sitting on one of the beds, the trainer applying some white gooey looking substance to the scrape on her knee. At the sight of it, James sucked in a breath. It was bigger than he'd originally thought, angry and red.

"Come here to gloat?" Lily's eyes glared daggers at him, and she looked as if she'd like nothing better than to jump off the bed and strangle him. From her side, Marlene held her gaze steadily, as if daring James to say a word.

"No. I came to apologize." Well, if Lily didn't die from anger, she'd certainly die from shock.

She didn't blink. "I don't believe you."

"Yeah, I figured you wouldn't." He dared a step closer. "But, sorry. It was an honest accident. Like, the football wasn't even supposed to go in your direction."

"Uh huh."

"Seriously, Evans! It was an accident!" Why was he even trying to explain himself? She was never going to believe him, and he'd already apologized. Besides, it wasn't like he cared what she thought of him.

 _You don't care what she thinks about you._

The words sounded fake.

"Yeah, okay. You don't have to pretend, Potter. We hate each other."

"Yeah, I know. I hate you." Did he? "But I wouldn't throw a football at you! I'm not that much of a jerk!"

"The evidence suggests otherwise."

"I wasn't trying to fucking injure you!" James yelled, well aware of the warning look he was receiving from the trainer, who had finally finished rubbing Lily's knee. "I swear on…. On football."

"You swear on _football?_ What a _boy_."

"Man," he corrected, hoping to lighten the mood.

It had the opposite effect.

Lily rolled her eyes, turning away from him. "Go away, Potter."

* * *

"I _told_ you! Didn't I tell you? I _so_ told you."

"It was just to save face."

"It was not! Did you see him when he saw the injury? He looked like he was gonna cry."

"He was in theater in sixth grade. It's called _acting_."

"You're kidding, right? James is _so_ bad at acting. The poor guy shows every single emotion."

"You're not supposed to argue with the injured."

Marlene rolled her eyes. "It's a skinned knee. You're not going to die."

"It could get infected."

"And you could stop your stupid bias towards James Potter. But some things are impossible."

Lily just glared, stalking out of the training room, attempting to ignore the burning sensation that was spreading across her knee. Whatever weird goo the trainer had put on the wound wasn't helping.

It was only seven o'clock in the morning, and Lily felt as if her world had turned upside down.

James Potter? Apologizing? It was almost like something out of a pipe dream. He'd never apologized for anything before - not when he'd stumbled upon her and Barry Wiseman making out behind the bleachers, not when he'd taken the last parking spot that wasn't a billion miles away from the school doors even though she had gotten there first, not even when he had "accidentally" knocked over her chemistry project the period before it was due.

So why was he apologizing now?

He couldn't have meant it. Him meaning it would mean that James Potter had a conscience - actually cared about Lily - and she would never, ever even entertain the thought. Ever. James Potter hated her, and she hated him. There was no room in the equation for being worried about the other person, or caring about what happened to them.

It was all just to make him look good in other people's eyes. That was the reason he'd interrupted practice ( _he never interrupts practice,_ a little voice in her head whispered) to "apologize".

Yes. James Potter didn't care about anything other than football - least of all her.

* * *

 _So she thinks... :-)_

 _Please review and tell me what you thought! Any feedback is highly appreciated :-)_

 _\- Sunny_


	3. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer: Is this really needed? I don't own anything you recognize_

* * *

"She doesn't believe me!" James exclaimed, sliding into the seat next to Sirius. Unwrapping his sandwich, he angrily chewed then swallowed, setting his jaw. "Can you believe it?"

"Uh, yeah, actually. She's not exactly your biggest fan," Peter said from across the table, shrugging apologetically.

"Okay, but I never apologize. So she _has_ to believe it! Why would I say sorry if I didn't mean it?"

"Girls are weird, dude. Let it go," Sirius advised, mouth full of food.

"You're disgusting."

"And you're a loser who's hung up on the fact that a girl you don't even like won't tell you she forgives you. Since when do you care what Lily Evans thinks anyways?"

James opened his mouth, grappling for an answer. It was a fair point. He couldn't place why he wanted Lily to believe him so much - he knew _part_ of it was the fact that she had the wrong opinion of him. James was nothing if not a straight-forwards person; he hated it when people thought of him in a manner in which he wasn't. He was fine with a person hating him as long as he'd done something to warrant the hate.

Deep down, however, he knew this wasn't the full extent of it. Something about Lily Evans _truly_ thinking bad of him, thinking that he'd go so far as to physically injure someone he wasn't on the best terms with - rubbed him the wrong way. He had a feeling he wouldn't have minded so much if it had been anyone but her.

"I just... I don't know," he answered, choosing to omit anything about the churning feeling in his stomach. "But I need to get her to believe me."

"I don't know how you're gonna manage that, but good luck," Sirius answered. "I've gotta go turn in that essay to Mr. Flitwick. I'll see you guys later." He gave James a little nod, as if to say, _you got this_ , and then made his way out of the cafeteria.

"So, any ideas?" Peter asked, popping a carrot into his mouth.

James was run dry. He'd thought simply apologizing would be enough, but it obviously hadn't gone as well as he'd hoped. Any grand gesture would just cause her to hate him more - he knew that much with certainty - and any and all teasing that occurred would just solidify the opinion that he had thrown the football on purpose.

"That's it!" James exclaimed, ignoring the odd looks he was receiving from both his tablemates, as well as the people milling about the cafeteria around him. "I'm not going to bother her!"

At this, Remus almost choked on his juice. "You're _what_?"

"I, James Potter, am going to be nice to Lily Evans."

"Okay…"

"No, seriously." As far as he could tell, this was the only solution that would work. He'd be nice to her, stop bothering her, make her see him in a more serious light. Then, when he apologized, she'd believe it.

"And after you apologize? You're just not going to bother her for the rest of the year?"

"Duh, Remus." It was Peter who answered this time. "He's just going to date her."

"That's _not_ what I meant!" James spluttered, cheeks turning red. "I'll figure out what happens later when I actually get to that point."

"You being nice to Lily is just going to spur on the rumor mill," Remus warned. "Everyone's going to think you've actually developed feelings for her."

"Okay, dude, do you _want_ me to be a dick to her?"

"No! Actually, I think your whole rivalry is stupid as hell and that everyone should be nice to everyone. You're just being nice to her for the wrong reason."

"You're such a hippie," James muttered, taking another bite of his sandwich. What did Remus mean, being nice for the wrong reason? How could you possibly be nice for the wrong reason? Nice was nice, no matter the motive. Actions spoke far louder than motivation, in James' opinion.

"Also, this is _so_ going to backfire," Remus added.

"How could this possibly backfire?"

"She's going to find out why you're being nice to her and flip out."

"No, she's not, because no one's going to tell her." James fixed a death glare on both Remus and Peter, the former who just shrugged. The latter threw his hands up in the air in surrender.

"I won't, jeez!" Peter exclaimed. "Stop looking at me like you're going to stab me with a fork or something."

"I don't even have a fork, Pete. Mom forgot to pack one."

"I cannot believe your mom still packs your lunch," Remus joked, shaking his head. "You're a senior in high school."

"You're never too old to be momma's boy."

* * *

Lily liked the feeling of walking down an empty school hallway. She felt powerful, as if she could do anything and no one would notice. She knew every step of this school - knew which turn to make to get to the bathrooms and where to go if she wanted to sneak out and cut class. The clacking of her sandals against the tile floor didn't hurt, of course. If only high heels weren't completely impractical for school and didn't hurt her feet so much.

So, it was with a sigh that she noticed another body making its way down the hall in the opposite direction. If Lily loved empty hallways, she loathed passing people in them. It was always such a toss-up on what to do - was she supposed to give them a little smile? A wave? Say hi? It depended on who the person was, but sometimes they were somewhere in the middle of an acquaintance and a friend, and then she didn't know whether to stop and talk or not. The worst, though, was definitely when she passed someone who she'd never seen. Then, head down, Lily just pretended they weren't there. Was it rude? Possibly. But Lily was nothing except awkward in confusing situations.

Her fears were quelled when she noticed it was James Potter coming in the opposite direction. Just her luck. The whole reason she'd left Calculus had been to get away from a little stress for a few minutes, and here _he_ was. Walking straight towards her.

She got ready to say something mean, maybe brush past him angrily, jostling him a little. Lord knows he needed it after his little football stunt.

But the opportunity never came.

James passed her quietly, opening his mouth with a little smirk on his face, then immediately closing it, as if he'd _thought better_. He gave her a little smile instead, waving, and then continued on his way.

Lily almost stopped in her tracks.

 _What?_

She must have imagined it. James probably wasn't in the hallway at all - it was her sleep deprived (damn playoffs season) mind making up confusing images. It was the only explanation for an occurrence this odd, wasn't it?

But, turning around, Lily could see James' back retreating down the hall, an odd spring in his step.

She used the bathroom quickly, returning to class almost in a daze. The rest of Calculus passed in a blur - Lily could hardly concentrate on the droning of Mr. Albright as he clicked through powerpoint slide after powerpoint slide. The letters and numbers and lines blurred together on the screen as her eyes lost focus.

Why had James Potter been so nice? What was he playing at?

When the bell rang, Lily hurriedly gathered her stuff and rushed to English, her last class of the day. She was glad to see Marlene already sitting in her seat, and she slid in next to her, dropping her things on the desk with a _thump_.

"You will not _believe_ what James Potter did." At the mention of the quarterback, Mary McDonald craned her neck over the back of her chair to join the conversation from the seat directly in front of Lily.

"What? He allegedly throw a football at you again?"

"I still maintain that he did that on purpose," Lily glared. "And, no. It's worse. He was _nice_ to me."

Marlene and Mary's reactions fell short. The former simply looked at Lily with an eyebrow arched, mouth set in a straight line, as if waiting for something more. Mary looked a little more surprised, but she didn't jump up, gasp, really do _anything_ to acknowledge that (well, at least in Lily's opinion) this was the craziest thing that had happened all year.

"Did you two not hear me?"

"I'm failing to see why this is awful," Marlene started, slowly, as if explaining numbers to a baby.

"He was _nice._ James Potter is never nice to me! There's obviously something up."

"Um, or he feels bad about the whole football incident?"

"Can't feel bad about something that was on purpose."

"I thought it wasn't on purpose," Mary chimed in. "I heard it was an accident."

"Yeah, that's what he's _saying."_

"And why don't you believe him?" Mary asked again, big, brown eyes looking more confused by the second.

Really, it wasn't that hard of a concept to grasp. Lily didn't trust _anything_ that came out of James Potter's mouth - it was a precaution she'd learned to take early on.

But, before she could say this, Marlene opened her mouth. "Because Lily's being an idiot."

"I am _not!_ You're gonna think it was weird too, Marls. He passed me in the hall and gave me a smile and a wave! James Potter! Gave me a smile and a wave!" Lily was all too aware of her rising voice and the odd looks she was receiving from the other students who had slowly filled the classroom, but she couldn't bring herself to care. How could Marlene not feel like the world was ending?

There were very few constants in Lily Evans' life. Her father would always make blueberry pancakes on Sunday afternoons. Petunia, her brat of an older sister, would, without fail, come home every year from college during Christmas break and ask for money to go to the beach with her friends during their Spring break. Her cat, Seamus, would not ever eat that one weird off-brand kibble that her dad sometimes bought from the grocery store. Marlene would always complain about how unflattering the cheer uniforms were, despite the fact that they were revealing as hell and about as sexy as high school uniforms could get.

And, lastly, James Potter would always be a dick.

And, honestly, Lily wasn't one who _needed_ things to always stay the same, or something to anchor her down. But, it threw her off when a constant was changed, as if someone had decided to bake a cake and, instead of using flour, had used rice. It was odd and not altogether pleasant and ultimately made for a mess. And Lily Evans preferred to avoid messes.

It was then that Mrs. Channing came into the room, and Lily had to focus her attention to the front of the classroom, conversation on halt. To her left, she could practically _feel_ Marlene laughing at her, and it was with glee that she packed up her bag to leave the classroom when the final bell rang.

"I think you're overreacting," were Marlene's words the moments they stepped out of the classroom.

"I think I'm being completely normal. I mean, he's been mean to me for years. It's just _weird_."

"Maybe Remus finally got to him."

This _was_ a possibility. While Lily didn't interact too much with the football players (she'd, of course, dated a few of them, but none of the relationships had really gone anywhere), she did like Remus Lupin. He had sat next to her all of junior year in English and was actually fun to talk to. He had good ideas, was soft spoken, and, on the whole, not the type of person who Lily thought would ever willingly associate with James Potter, or even Sirius Black, for that matter. The shaggy haired, grey-eyed boy was the Simon to James' Garfunkel; Lily couldn't remember ever seeing them apart for long - they'd been annoying as hell ever since the sixth grade.

"Yeah, but why now?"

"Because he feels bad about the football thing?"

"Drop the goddamn football thing!" Lily threw her hands into the air, narrowly avoiding smacking them against the wall. " _It wasn't an accident."_ She said the words slowly, punctuating each word with a breath, eyes locked onto Marlene. The blonde girl only rolled her eyes.

"You know I don't put up with your Angry-Lily shit, so don't even try."

"You're the worst best friend ever."

"I know."

They walked in silence the rest of the way down to the gym lockers, where Lily pulled open her locker and tugged her bag out, slamming the door shut and stalking out without Marlene. The girl wouldn't put up with her being angry, but that didn't mean Lily couldn't be. Anyway, she already knew that she'd be calling Marlene later that night, after homework and dinner, to talk more about this. That was how things always were with them - Lily would pretend to be mad, Marlene would pretend to care, they'd make up without actually making up. It was great.

She lessened her stalk when she saw Coach Thompson standing outside her office, looking pointedly at her. Lily approached warily - if Thompson singled you out, it was very rarely a good thing.

"Do you have a few minutes?"

"Uh… Yeah."

"Okay, great. Come with me." Thompson led her down the hallway and to the right. Lily could tell by the stench that hit her the moment they rounded the corner - sweat and Axe and dirty uniforms - that they were in the football hallway. They entered a large office right at the beginning of the hall, where Coach Huff, the head football coach, was standing, along with James Potter.

Frowning, little worms of dread creeping into her stomach, Lily watched as Thompson went to stand next to Huff.

"As you two both know," the latter started, "we have our second playoffs game coming up tomorrow."

James gave an enthusiastic nod. He still hadn't even looked her way, and Lily was almost disappointed. Almost.

"I have a good feeling about this year. Potter?"

"Oh, yeah, definitely, sir. We're gonna win."

There was a confident note in his voice that, instead of sounding arrogant, was just inspiring. When Huff's gaze turned to her, Lily simply nodded.

"If we do win," Thompson continued, "we figured it'd be good to do a fundraiser of sorts. It would last as long as we're in the playoffs, of course, and half the proceeds would go to the cheerleading team." At this, Huff looked like he'd argued very vehemently against that particular part of the plan. Thompson ignored him. "You two, as respective captains of the teams, will be in charge."

"Wait, what?" Lily asked, furrowing her eyebrows. In charge? What did that entail? Simply being there to oversee the fundraiser? And what were they selling, anyway?

"Well, if we win the game Friday, you two'll have the weekend to decide on something to sell to raise money, as well as a sort of game plan. And then you'll supervise, organize, all that stuff. We want you to put your leadership skills to use."

Work? With James Potter? Lily wasn't sure if she wanted to yell or cry. There was no way she and James could work in close proximity with each other - James would lose the fake, calm charade he'd been keeping up all day around her the moment they had to spend more than ten minutes in the same room. Lily didn't think she'd even last five. And, it wasn't as if their rivalry wasn't well known - both Thompson and Huff had seen their fair share of shouting matches. What the hell were they thinking?

Huff spoke before Lily could protest. "You're going to put aside your petty feud to get this done, or else there _will_ be consequences. Do you understand?"

Lily could only nod.

* * *

 _Did I just add another cliche to my already extremely cliche story? Yes. Am I sorry? No :-)_

 _Anyway, school's starting up for me soon so I don't know how often I'll update, but I think I should be able to post once a week. Hopefully._

 _And, thanks for all the reviews and favorites and follows! They mean so much. If you liked this chapter, please review!_

 _\- Sunny_


	4. Chapter 4

_Disclaimer: Nothing you recognize is mine. But I wish Sirius was._

* * *

The stars had aligned in James Potter's favor.

Well, perhaps not. Maybe they'd just sort of shifted into some semblance of whatever his ideal arrangement was. After all, he still had to _win_ the second playoff game for this fundraiser thing to start.

But it couldn't have come at a better time. A chance to spend one-on-one time with Lily Evans, planning with her, showing her how mature he could be? James almost wanted to ask Huff if he'd somehow read his mind.

Sirius, on the other hand, had not thought the arrangement was as convenient as James. "It's just going to push you over the edge and you're going to lose your cool and then this whole stupid ass plan is going to fail," he'd commented over a steaming cup of coffee at Starbucks. "No offense."

"None taken," had been James' response. It was truthful, because James wasn't going to fail. James _didn't_ fail. Generally, he got exactly what he wanted, and that wasn't about to change now.

And, while James would never, ever admit this to anyone, he wasn't finding it so hard to keep from antagonizing Lily. He'd fallen into the pattern of giving her a smile in the hallway, exchanging a nod on the field when their eyes caught each other's during practice; she always returned his gestures with narrowed eyes, bated breath, as if the whole thing was a joke and she was waiting warily for the punchline. James would have been offended if he wasn't so surprised at how _nice_ being nice to Lily Evans felt. Natural, even.

He was probably going crazy.

Nevertheless, Friday seemed eons away, although it was already Thursday. James' muscles ached from conditioning and hours of throwing a football and his mind swam with play after play. School felt more tedious than ever - he just needed the game to be _over._ Going to the third round of playoffs felt like everything and more, and James knew he wasn't the only one with the opinion.

Sirius was eating as if it was his last day on Earth. James called it the stuff-your-face-routine, Sirius' nervous ritual that had reared its obnoxious head in seventh grade and had never disappeared. Every time a remotely stressful situation was looming, James would have to sit through lunches of Sirius eating everything and anything in sight, spewing crumbs all over the table, the occasional odd liquid making its way down his chin. It was disgusting, to say the least. Or, at least, James thought so. He'd overheard a girl once saying that Sirius looked hot no matter what.

This was obviously untrue. Sirius sat across from him, shoving a piece of pizza in his mouth, chewing as if his life depended on it. James was surprised he hadn't choked yet - it was really only a matter of time. When it _did_ happen, he would laugh for a good minute before coming to his best friend's aid. It only seemed fair for all the disgusting lunches he'd had to sit through.

Next to him, Remus' face mirrored James' thoughts.

"You're so gross," were his only words, his curled lip and wrinkled nose doing all the talking for him.

"I'm hungry," was Sirius' only reply. This was how he always confronted the situation - James would be surprised if he even knew he was a nervous eater.

What kind of a nervous person was James? If Sirius wasn't aware of his own habits, then maybe he wasn't either. Was he a nervous texter? No, his phone had been lying at the bottom of his backpack for the last few hours, and James was definitely nervous for tomorrow. He wasn't a nervous talker, or a nervous reader, or a nervous urinator.

A nervous nice person.

 _He was a nervous nice person._

It explained everything. That's why he'd felt so awful when he'd hit Lily with the football - he'd been nervous about possible repercussions, so he'd felt the need to apologize. And now he was nervous that she'd never accept his apology, so that was why he found being nice so easy.

James knew he was grasping at thin air, but it was really the only explanation. Or, the only explanation he was willing to accept. It could serve as a placeholder for whatever muddle his actual feelings were - he'd just push them aside to make room for this theory. Hopefully they'd become forgotten. Dusty papers in a filing cabinet.

If not, he'd just keep repeating the words like a mantra. _Nervous nice person_.

* * *

Friday came far too quickly for Lily's taste.

The day started off with a bang. The moment she stepped out of her car, Lily was immediately accosted by a very excited looking Mary McDonald, clad in the Hogwarts High cheer uniform, looking like she'd had way too much coffee.

"Do you have the math homework? I can't do it tonight because, well, I mean, you know, the game, and I _really_ need to copy down your answers."

"That's academic dishonesty," Lily remarked, but she pulled her math binder out of her backpack, opening it up on the hood of her car. "That'll be five dollars for a seven hour rental."

Mary's face fell. "Wait, seriously?"

"No, you idiot!" Lily laughed, thrusting the sheet into Mary's face. "Take the homework."

It was a wonder, really, that she was in such a good mood. Today would be the day that she found out if she had to work with James Potter, and even with his new and improved attitude, she wasn't looking forward to it. And it was made all the more hard by the fact that she _really_ wanted the football team to win the game. It was her senior year, and every game they played could be the last time she ever cheered in high school. The _finality_ of it all was getting to her, and she wasn't ready to let go just yet. If they won this game, then there'd be the third round. And if they won _that_ game, they'd go to the championship. Maybe it was kind of a long shot, but whatever reservations she had about his character, Lily was fairly confident James could carry the team that far. At least, she hoped so.

She was shrugging on her letterman jacket (was there a reason schools kept the air conditioning so damn low?) when she was approached by yet another person. This one, however, was wearing black dress pants, a white collared shirt with a red and gold striped tie, and a bulky letterman - football game day apparel. Lily had to look up quite a ways to see Lucius Malfoy looking down at her, grinning.

"Lucius! Hey!" Lily greeted, giving him a grin. Though football guys were people she tended to steer clear of, Lucius was someone she almost considered a friend. Tall, blonde, with a chiseled face and sharp features, he looked like some kind of Scandinavian model. He was nice, too, a stark contrast from a certain other football player she knew (although that seemed to be changing lately).

Lucius was, in fact, James' opposite in many ways. He played safety to James' quarterback, almost always looked put together, as if he'd stepped straight out of a magazine - hair combed, shirt tucked in, neatly ironed - and was like the moon to James' sun. Although, James was hardly what Lily would consider a life force. He was more soul-sucking, if anything.

And, although there was no _actual_ rivalry, Lily knew that James and Lucius didn't particularly get along. Maybe that was part of the reason she enjoyed spending with him. That whole "enemy of my enemy is my friend" thing. It didn't hurt that sometimes she felt a little _something_ when he said her name.

"Excited for the game?" She continued, shrugging her backpack over her shoulder and slamming the car door shut, locking it before making her way up to the building with him.

"Nervous as hell," he chuckled, shaking his head. " _So_ nervous."

Yet another thing that Lily liked about Lucius. He was honest. He wouldn't lie, wouldn't try to tell things like they weren't. For example, he would never say he was sorry when he didn't mean it. He wasn't James Potter.

"You guys are going to win. You have to. I feel it, like, in my bones."

"Yeah, well, we will with you cheering us on." He shot Lily a little sideways smile, and she had to fight hard to keep from blushing.

So she was a little attracted to him. Just a little. Honestly, it was impossible not to be. He was kind and sweet and charming and, if their conversations were any indication, actually enjoyed talking to her. If he asked her out, she wouldn't object.

"You'll win on your talent," Lily quipped, poking him in the stomach.

Oh holy god _abs_.

Did James Potter have abs like this? (He probably did. But why was she even thinking about him?)

Shaking her head as if to get rid of the offending thoughts, she didn't catch what Lucius said next. "Wait, could you repeat that again?"

He smiled. "I _said_ , at the after party at Davies' house when we _win_ , find me. I wanna tell you something."

"Something you can't tell me now?"

He merely winked before sauntering away.

It was not even a moment before Marlene pounced.

"Oh my god!"

"Whoa, what the hell? Where did you come from?" was all Lily could manage before she was bombarded.

"Was that Lucius? Why are you talking to Lucius Malfoy? _Please_ tell me you two are not a thing. Please, dear lord."

"It's possible for a girl and boy to be friends, Mar. We were just talking."

"But you _so_ like him."

"How am I so transparent?"

Marlene shrugged, linking her arm with Lily. She didn't bother with a jacket over her uniform - if there was one thing Lily could say with complete certainty about Marlene McKinnon, it was that she loved to show skin.

"You're my best friend, Lily. I think I can tell when you like someone. But, I just wanna tell you that you two have, like, _no_ chemistry."

"As opposed to me and a certain other person that you seem to think would make a good boyfriend?"

"James Potter would make an _amazing_ boyfriend."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Yeah, to someone with no standards."

"Whatever, we're not getting into this again. C'mon, let's go to class. And on the way, you can tell me about you and Mucus."

"It's Lucius."

"That's what I said. Mucus."

* * *

Before she knew it, Lily was standing on the sidelines of the field, watching the referee talk to the captains of the two teams. On the other side of the field, a sea of light blue uniforms shone underneath the high, bright stadium lights, a stark contrast to the red and gold of Hogwarts' uniforms. There wasn't a star in the sky - the moon was a hazy halo of light, barely illuminating anything. It was cold, too. Lily could feel goosebumps prickling their way up her skin. She fought the urge to curl up in a ball and rub her skin warm.

To her left, Alice Fortescue stood, wearing a letterman jacket that looked about three sizes too big on her tiny frame, the name "Longbottom" written in large letters on the back.

"Wait…" Lily turned to her, frowning. "Thompson let you wear a jacket? And why're you wearing Frank's?"

Alice grinned. "Oh yeah! I totally forgot to tell you. Okay, so at Gringotts they have this tradition where the cheerleaders wear their boyfriend's varsity jackets if they're on the football team while they're cheering and it, like, brings them good luck. So I asked Thompson if we could do it, just to see if it would work. And I think she's, like, nervous about this game because she was like, 'Yeah' so I asked Frank for his. Emmeline's wearing Roger's and Sarah's wearing Tyler's."

Lily could barely follow Alice's marathon of words, but once she understood just what the pixie-like girl was trying to say, she had to fight the urge to wish she was wearing one. Possibly with the name "Malfoy" on the back.

A girl could dream.

"So, can I wear my _own_ jacket?" After all, even if it wasn't some cute gesture, she wasn't exactly open to the idea of freezing her ass off.

"Nope," Alice popped the 'p', bouncing on the balls of her feet. "That's bad luck, or something."

"Fucking great," Lily muttered, turning her attention back to the field. Hogwarts' special teams were in position, ready to receive the kick off.

The game was starting.

The first ten minutes were like every year in the past. Beauxbatons scored quickly, effectively holding off James Potter and anything he possibly tried. He looked frustrated, and called a timeout.

And then, something changed.

Lily could almost feel James' shift in attitude, the tensing of his muscles as he stood ready to receive the snap. The other players seemed to sense it too, because, suddenly, Hogwarts was a force to be reckoned with.

James threw long, and Sirius caught it, pumping his fist into the air as Lily cheered, shaking her pompoms . She kicked and twirled and jumped and screamed herself hoarse, her voice projecting just a little bit more when Lucius tackled a Beauxbatons running back on third down two yards short of the first down marker. Things were looking up.

The sudden fight from Hogwarts had taken Beauxbatons off guard, and Lily could see them losing confidence - fumbled passes, missed tackles, badly run plays. With every mistake that the players in blue made, the players in red gained confidence, connecting longer passes, finding holes in the defense, scoring touchdown after touchdown. It felt unreal when the buzzer went off and Hogwarts was going to the third round of playoffs for the first time ever.

Lily almost forgot the fact that she'd be working with James Potter.

* * *

By the time Lily arrived at Roger Davies' house, the afterparty was already in full swing. She must have taken longer to freshen up that she'd thought.

The first thing that assaulted her eyes when she walked through the front door was the sight of Emmeline Vance and Roger Davies making out on the couch, his hand up her shirt. Groaning and shielding her eyes, Lily pushed past. Did common decency just not exist in high school?

She found her way to the kitchen, pouring herself a cup of beer. She'd never been much of a drinker - alcohol simply didn't taste good - but she _was_ a slave to tradition. And what was more traditional than alcohol at a high school party?

Marlene found her twenty minutes later, sipping on her third cup of the amber liquid, leaning against the wall and surveying the party. It was nothing like she'd always expected high school parties to be, and though she'd been to many, the difference surprised her every time. People weren't dancing on tables, there was no cocaine on the piano, and no one had peed on the grass in the backyard. In fact, the only things that were anything like the movies were the seemingly infinite supply of alcohol and the people making out on the couch.

"Mucus told me to tell you that he's in the guest room if I saw you. And I saw you. So Mucus is in the guest room."

"His name's Lucius," Lily retorted, pushing herself off of the wall, butterflies fluttering into her stomach. What could Lucius possibly want to tell her that involved the guest room?

"Whatever. Point is, he wants to fuck."

Lily almost choked on her beer. After a good minute of spluttering and gaping, she squeaked, " _What?_ "

"God, relax, you're not even a virgin. And he didn't _actually_ say that. I'm just telling you that that's what he wants to do."

"Okay, no. He just wants to talk."

"Sure."

"Lucius is a good person, and even if he wants to have sex, he'll understand when I say no. Now, I'm not going to keep the guy waiting."

Lily pushed past an amused looking Marlene, making her way up the stairs and hunting around for the guest room. She finally opened a door to see Lucius sitting on the comforter. He looked up and grinned when he saw her, patting the spot next to him on the bed. She closed the door quietly behind her, making her way to him.

"Hey. So, uh, you wanted to tell me something?"

"Yeah. Yeah, um, I did." He looked a little unsure, and it was oddly endearing. "Actually, I've been meaning to tell you this for a while."

"Okay. What is it?" Lily bit her lip, finding it hard to meet his eyes.

"I, um, well, actually, it's probably better expressed…." He leaned forward and placed his lips upon hers, tentative, shy, soft. It took Lily a moment to register what was going on, and then she kissed him back.

It was nice.

Not electrifying, not passionate or exciting or anything like she'd imagined it. In fact, it was, all things considered, completely _ordinary._

 _It's probably just the alcohol, muting the feelings_ , Lily told herself, pulling away to stare at a blushing Lucius.

"I've, uh, I've actually liked you for a while."

"I don't really want a relationship right now."

Oh god. Lily was going to die. She was going to sink into the ground and die from embarrassment. Where had that _come_ from? The sentiment wasn't even completely true, but it felt like the thing to say in the moment. And, she'd _thought_ she'd wanted a relationship with Lucius. She'd wanted to wear his _letter jacket._ What was _wrong_ with her?

"Oh… Um-,"

"No! I mean, I like you. I just don't really want a relationship right now," Lily was word-vomiting now, trying to find a way to make the situation better.

He smiled. "Oh, so like a secret-relationship friends-with-benefits thing? I'm down if you are."

Shit. That was _so_ not what she meant.

"Um, yeah! Yeah that sounds good."

She was never drinking alcohol again.

* * *

 _Sorry for updating a week late but ahhhhhh here it is! Lily and Lucius? Will it go anywhere? What will happen? ;-)_

 _I think I might have introduced Lucius a little too quickly/rushed so I'm really sorry about that but... yeah_

 _If you enjoyed it, or even if you didn't, please review! It would mean a lot!_

 _\- Sunny_


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